


Cats, Books and Guns

by pennywritesthings (orphan_account)



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Fake AH Crew, GTA AU, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-09-21 12:05:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9548321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/pennywritesthings
Summary: Request by Anonymous: Fake AH Crew Ryan runs into the reader’s escape artist cat for 3k.





	1. Chapter 1

Living in Los Santos wasn’t easy. One would think, since you had grown up here, that you’d be used to it, but that wasn’t at all the case. You never got used to the intense, violent crime that constantly went on, you never got used to the prevalent gang activity, and you never got used to living in the awful conditions that you did. 

When you were nineteen years old, you were still living with your loving parents. They had wanted you to save up your money from working at your shitty job in the local bookstore that was rarely, if ever, frequented, and so they had allowed you to stay at the house with them until you could afford a decent apartment by yourself. 

It was pretty helpful, too. You were able to afford things like gas in your car and nice little thank you gifts for your parents just because you felt like it at the same time - a rarity in this god forsaken town. 

You were now twenty-six, working late into the night at the bookstore that you now owned and managed, when you received the phone call from the Los Santos Police Department informing you that your parents were unfortunate civilian casualties in a shootout with a gang at the local bank. As their only surviving family member, you were in charge of all of their affairs after their death.

Not only were you grieving over losing your parents, but you had to take time off of work to sell their house, their belongings, and arrange a funeral. Those were the most stressful weeks of your whole life. It had been a few months since then, and while you weren’t as stressed as you were before, you were still struggling. 

It didn’t help that you decided to keep your parent’s cat, Sekhmet, who was a little fucking bitch and liked to run the fuck away while you were at work on the other side of town. It was eleven o’clock at night, and yet, despite how unsafe it was in this city, you couldn’t bring yourself to not look high and low for that cat. 

Your parents loved her a lot, and despite the fact that this was the fifth time now that you’ve had to look for her, you were starting to grow really fond of her, too. She was a good listener, and you could tell she was grieving too, in her own cat way. When she wasn’t being a punk, she was really cute and really friendly with you, even if she was sad, just like you were. 

“Sekhmet!” You called again, shaking the food tin that meant dinner time for the cat, wandering around your apartment complex. “Come on, you fucking bitch. Get some fucking dinner.” 

“Having troubles?” 

The sudden deep, amused chuckle that you didn’t recognize sent you jumping and, yes, admittedly letting out a scared gasp. You whirled around, your heart racing. This guy could be a total fucking murder-happy psycho. Oh, god, you had no idea how to defend yourself, and there was no one else around. You were gonna die. 

And of course, when you met the eyes of the strange man, you realized immediately that he was incredibly hot. Well, if you were going to get shanked in your apartment complex, at least your murderer was going to be pretty. 

“I, uh. Yeah. Cat ran off.” You explained breathlessly, taking in his striking blue eyes and rugged facial features. Mm, yeah, he was real cute. It was a shame he was seeing you like this, when you were such a mess. 

“I thought I saw one over in the south side parking lot, hiding in a corner. Big ears, gray tabby?” The stranger asked. 

“Oh! Yeah, that’s Sekhmet.” You replied, beaming up at the stranger. Maybe he wasn’t a scary murderer after all. That was certainly good news. “Thank you!”

“Hey, it’s no problem.” The stranger replied modestly, before looking a bit sheepish and holding his hands up as if to show he was unarmed. You appreciated the fact that he was taking this into consideration. He looked much stronger than you were. “I know if I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t accept help from a strange man, but it might be easier if two try to catch your kitty cat. Would you mind letting me help you?”

_ Say no. You don’t accept help from strangers in the dead of night, no matter how cute they are. Especially in goddamn Los Santos. Say. No.  _

“That’d be fantastic, actually!” You smiled, toying with the hem of your top.  _ God damn it.  _ “She can be a sneaky little fucker. I could use all the help I can get.”

“I promise I’m not going to hurt you or anything. My name’s Ryan.” He introduced, holding a hand out for you to shake, which you took. “I live here in 40C.” 

“How serendipitous.” You commented after giving him your own name. “I live just across the hall from you. I wonder why we’ve never met?” 

Ryan chuckled as he began walking with you to the parking lot he said he saw Sekhmet in. “I’m not really here much. My job keeps me pretty busy.” 

“Oh, what do you do?” You cringed as you realized that could probably be considered a bit intrusive. “Sorry, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. That probably sounded a bit creepy.” 

“No, not at all.” You relaxed as Ryan reassured you with a kind smile. “It’s just work, it’s not like you’re asking me my social security number or anything. I freelance with a group of friends. We’re sort of a jack-of-all-trades type, but we mainly specialize in security. A company will hire us to figure out security breaches within their system and then fix it.” 

“Sounds like you don’t really have boring days.” You hummed, looking up at Ryan with a raised eyebrow, who only shrugged.

“Yeah, but I prefer it that way. I don’t know what I’d do with a nine-to-five. Probably go insane.” 

“I’m a bit of the opposite, though I don’t think I’m completely boring.” You commented as you neared the area that Ryan mentioned. “I own and manage the bookstore on 6th. Not much excitement there, but it’s nice because there’s no crazy gang shit going on around there, you know? I feel safe there. Nobody wants to rob a fuckin’ bookstore.”

Ryan laughed, a deep, happy noise, that made you smile. You liked that you could make this stranger laugh like that. “You’re right. It is a pretty safe place to work, in comparison to, say, a bank.” 

You smiled a bit more weakly after that. You did all of your banking online since your parents death at the bank. If you never went inside one again in this fucking city, it would be too soon. 

“Oh, shit, I think I see her. Sekhmet!” You heard a loud meow from underneath the car right in front of you, and you knelt down to get a better look and confirmed that yes, in fact, the gray blur you caught out of the corner of your eye was the damn cat. “C’mere, you little shithead. I’ve got food.” 

You shook the tin of food, but the cat didn’t move an inch. You sighed, setting the food down and getting ready to get down on your hands and knees to grab Sekhmet yourself, but a gentle, strong hang on your shoulder stopped you. You nearly jumped out of your skin, sort of forgetting that Ryan was there with you. To his credit, he pulled his hand away immediately and took a step back to make you more comfortable. 

You felt guilty that you were making him feel so defensive, but, on the other hand, he looked far stronger than you, so you had a right to feel a bit threatened. At first glance, Ryan looked kind of like a scary motherfucker, but after looking for a moment or two, he looked friendly and sweet. After all, what sort of potential murderer would help their future victim find their cat?

“Here, if you go on that side, I’ll stay here to grab Sekhmet if they run away.” Ryan said, a little too seriously. You wondered if he was like, a retired veteran. It would explain that look he had about him, that was for sure. 

But, despite the fact that you should be hesitating about listening to him, you went and listened to him anyway. You maintained eye contact with the damn cat, but, as Ryan predicted, she ran away. However, unlike Ryan predicted, she ran away in between the two of you. 

Your brief theory about Ryan being ex-military was partially confirmed as he literally did a fucking barrel roll to the side and caught Sekhmet before she even got a foot away from you. Your mouth was agape in your shock as Ryan stood, his arms wrapped around your kitty, who didn’t even look the slightest bit pissed off. In fact, the little bitch was  _ purring. _ What the  _ fuck? _

“Um, wow.” For someone who spent 70+ hours in a week in a bookstore, you weren’t being very eloquent or verbose at the moment. But, hell, that was some superhero parkour bullshit,  _ and _ Sekhmet actually looked pleased. You wordlessly took her from Ryan’s hands, blinking up at him with what you were sure was an entirely unattractive look of bewilderment. “Thank you so much. But, um, sorry if this is too intrusive, are you like, ex-military? Or a martial artist or something?” 

Ryan simply laughed, combing his fingers through his long hair and shrugged. “I’ve never had formal training from an instructor, but yes, I do know how to defend myself physically.”

You bit back the sarcastic  _ well, no shit, _ that was threatening to spill from your lips. You wondered where on earth he had learned how to do whatever it was he could do, but, well, in this city, you were afraid to ask. Which sort of meant that you were a bit more weary about Ryan than you were a few moments ago, but he hadn’t given you a reason to distrust you yet. 

“Well, thank you again. I really do appreciate your help. Sekhmet isn’t as friendly with me as she was with my parents yet, but I’m sure it’ll come with time, and then she’ll finally stop running away from me.” You said absently, scratching the cat between her ears, trying not to think about the fact that Ryan could probably hurt you pretty bad if he wanted to.

“It’s no trouble at all.” Ryan replied, looking down at you as if he had a few questions, but was willing to let them slide. You were thankful for that. You weren’t ready to talk about your parents so soon to a stranger. 

“Well, now that I know you’re right across from me, I’ll bake you cookies or some shit as a thank you.” You smiled, taking the slightest of steps back, showing him both that you were getting ready to go back upstairs and relax at home and that you maybe weren’t as trusting of him as you were before. 

“No, really, don’t worry about it. I mean, I’m not going to turn away a cookie or two if you bring them, but don’t feel obligated.” There was a brief period of silence where you and Ryan simply looked at each other a bit awkwardly, but eventually, he took a step back and put a sheepish hand on the back of his neck. “Anyway, I really should be going. My crew’s waiting for me.” 

“Oh! I didn’t know I was keeping you. I’m sorry.” You held Sekhmet a bit closer as she moved as if she wanted to go with Ryan. You couldn’t quite blame her. Despite the fact that Ryan was a bit disconcerting, he was also quite friendly and undeniably handsome. You just weren’t going to trust him, that was all. 

“No, it’s fine. They can wait for me. Lord knows I’ve waited long enough for some of their asses.” Ryan looked slightly annoyed, muttering something under his breath that sounded sort of like ‘Gavin’, but it wasn’t any of your business, so you ignored it. “I’m glad you got your cat. It was nice to meet you, Y/N.” 

“Yeah, it was nice to meet you too, Ryan. I’d shake your hand, but, uh…” Ryan laughed, simply giving you a two finger salute (how cute) and backing up.

“I’ll catch you around!” He called, and just as you opened your mouth to warn him, his back slammed into a lightpost. You couldn’t stop the giggles from escaping your lips at the surprised look on Ryan’s face, and even he smiled over at you once he realized he was okay. “That was a bit embarrassing.”

“Just a little!” You laughed, not daring to take a step back yourself in case the same thing happened to you too. “It’s okay, it was cute.”

“You’re cute, too!” Ryan said, grinning goofily. Your heart warmed, as did your cheeks, as he openly flirted with you. Sure, there was a good possibility that he was dangerous to you, but, well, the whole running into a pole thing and his smile afterwards was really cute. 

“I said  _ it was _ cute, not that you were cute.” You smiled, though, not wanting him to think that you didn’t appreciate his little move there. 

“Yeah, but you will one of these days!” 

You hugged Sekhmet tightly, much to the displeasure of the little shithead, who meowed loudly. “I’ll see you around, Ryan.” 

“Yeah, for sure. See you around, Y/N!” 

You couldn’t stop the smile that spread across your lips as you turned around and headed to your apartment. You didn’t stop thinking about Ryan all night. 

 

~~

 

“Fucking  _ there you are!” _ The exasperated voice of Michael Jones ran through the penthouse that was the base of operations for the Fake AH Crew as Ryan walked in. “Christ, I was starting to get worried.” 

“No, you weren’t.” Jack reminded him with a sigh, rubbing at her temples, clearly fed up with his shit, as always.

“No, I think you were saying ‘I think Ryan’s dead. Let’s just start without him.’” Jeremy said, finally at the point in his career with the Crew that he was able to say something like that and not flinch. 

Ryan simply shrugged, clearly not bothered either way, a slight smile still on his face from his encounter with you a few moments ago. 

“Ryan looks happy.” Gavin declared, looking on with normal eyes. “I’m suspicious. Did you find a bird, Ryan? Did you get laid?” 

“For fuck’s sake!” Geoff’s voice broke as Ryan heard what was probably the sounds of his fists hitting the coffee table. “Can we fucking  _ please _ focus on our goddamn meeting?” 

“It’s none of your business, Gavin.” Ryan hummed, grabbing a diet coke from the fridge and joining the rest of the Crew at the couch. 

“Oooooooooh!” Ryan would have been irritated any other day at the way the entire Crew, yes, including Geoff, suddenly focused on him and ‘ooh’ed in sync. It was the kind of ‘ooh’ that promised poking and prodding at Ryan’s personal life. He shouldn’t have said as much as he did, even though it wasn’t much, but, to be honest, he couldn’t even be all that upset about it. He was still sort of riding the high that came from meeting you. 

“What’s her name, Ryan?!” Jack, at least looked more happy for him and ready to support him rather than tease. He appreciated that, but he still wasn’t going to say shit about you. 

“C’mon! Tell us!” 

“No.” Ryan said firmly, glaring over at Jeremy, who, thankfully, began to back off. At least Ryan hadn’t lost his touch. “No, I’m not saying anything about her to you.” 

“So there  _ is _ a her!” Geoff shouted triumphantly, making Ryan roll his eyes. 

“Of course there’s a her.” Michael teased. “What else but murder would make Ryan late?” 

Ryan shrugged. He wasn’t wrong. But, for your sake, he’d be making a hell of an effort to make that fact change. “So, about the heist.” 

“Right. So, what I was thinking was…”  
  


~~  
  


It had only been a few days since you had met Ryan, and you still had been thinking of nothing but the encounter. Even at work, your shithead teenage employees noticed that you had been spacey. One of them had gone so far as to guess that you had met someone, and your blushing hadn’t quite proved them wrong. You had to threaten them with unemployment to get their asses to shut up, but the simply snickered and got back to work. They knew you weren’t serious. 

However, even though they stopped their teasing, and therefore stopped bringing up your ‘mystery boyfriend’ didn’t mean you didn’t stop thinking about him at every waking moment. It was embarrassing, your weird obsession over him. You cringed as you remembered that you were the one who wasn’t entirely trusting of him for fear that he was a creepy stranger. If he knew what you were thinking now, you’d be the creepy one for sure. 

“Hey, uh, boss?” 

Your head perked up from a book you weren’t really reading as your youngest employee, a nervous, skittish kid named Jaune, appeared in your line of sight, wringing his hands together and shaking like a leaf. 

“Yeah? What’s up, kid? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” You frowned, standing up and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. 

“I-I think I saw something. Something with the bank across the street.” 

Ordinarily, you’d tell Jaune not to worry about it and go to give him a task that would take his mind off of things so that he didn’t have to spend the rest of his shift feeling nervous, but you couldn’t this time. You remembered getting the phone call that changed everything for you. You wondered if there was a paranoid kid like Jaune who tried to say the exact same thing, only for his concern to fall on deaf ears. Would your parents still be alive then? 

Not to mention the fact that you vaguely remembered that Jaune mentioned when you hired him that his parents worked at that bank. You looked at the kid again, taking in his shaking form and his nervous blue eyes. You couldn’t let history repeat itself, especially not so soon. If he thought he saw something, you weren’t going to ignore it. 

“Okay. Let’s walk to the front of the store and try to discreetly point out to me what you saw.” You said calmly, leading him to the front and pretending to point out books to him so that if there really was a robbery or something going on, it wouldn’t look like you and Jaune were looking for them. 

“It was, um, six or so guys, all dressed really weird. One of them was wearing a creepy looking mask, and they all went through that front entrance.” Jaune said quietly. 

“I’m no expert, but I don’t think six guys would walk into a bank in the front entrance if they were going to rob the place. I think everything is going to be… fine…” Your voice trailed off as you noticed a few people running out of the bank, looking fucking terrified, talking frantically on their phones. 

You met Jaune’s eyes, but before you could say a word, he was rushing out of the store and across the street. You screamed his name, trying to get him to stop or at least slow down, but he didn’t turn back. And, honestly? You couldn’t blame him. Especially since if you did, you’d be a hypocrite, because you ran right after him. If worst came to worst, he was going to need you. Yes, the thought of what you were doing was enough to send you into a panic attack, but you had to do this for the kid. You had to. 

“Jaune, get behind me!” You yelled as you entered the bank, grabbing the kid’s arm, but you were only one of the screaming voices in the building. It was absolute chaos, and yet the six men with the guns looked and acted like they were in complete control. 

“I have to get to them!” Jaune cried, trying to shake you off of him, but you didn’t relent. 

“I understand! But I need you to not go rushing in so that your parents still have a son by the end of the day, alright?” Your words seemed to have gotten through to the kid, because he nodded slowly, and you began to try to think as best as you could to try to get Jaune to his parents without getting either of them shot. 

“Everybody, shuuuut up!” One of the men roared, the one wearing the mask and carrying the biggest gun, but nobody seemed to listen. He whirled around, and that’s when he noticed you and Jaune, and he froze. 

“Jaune, if he raises his weapon, you’re going to run, do you understand me?” You said quietly, trying not to make your mouth move as much as possible. 

“But I don’t want to just leave you here! What if he kills you?” Jaune whimpered, frozen in fear, same as you were. 

“I don’t give a  _ shit _ what you want right now. You’re going to run and go find your parents and find a safe place to hide until the police get here.” You hissed, and that was when the masked man started marching towards you. You looked with wide eyes over at Jaune, who looked ready to do as he was told, thank god. “Go! Now!”

You braced yourself for god knows what when the man finally reached you, ready to distract him from Jaune, who was booking it as stealthily as he could away, but instead of shooting you, he just grabbed your arm gently. 

“What are you doing here?!?” He hissed. You stuttered in confusion, unable to speak properly in your total fear. His voice sounded familiar, and he clearly recognized you. Someone you knew was robbing a bank right now with five of his friends with really big guns. 

“W-What?” You finally managed to get out. 

“You weren’t supposed to be working right now! You were supposed to be at home! You weren’t supposed to be anywhere near 6th Street right now!” He sounded so angry. 

You opened your mouth to explain that you went in because one of your employees called in, but the masked man didn’t care. He just looked between you and the five other men who were getting money from the petrified tellers.

“Geoff! Heist is off! We need to go, now!” He called, making all five of the men turn and look at him in confusion. It was then that you recognized the voice.

“Ryan?” You asked in shock, your eyes wide and your heart sinking. Oh my god, he was a criminal. He was a gang member. Oh my  _ god. _

Ryan turned and looked at you, but you couldn’t even get an inkling as to what he was feeling through that damn mask. He kept his face towards you as he yelled again, only turning to face his crew when he finished speaking. “Just trust me, we need to leave!”

“God, I fucking hate you sometimes!” One of the men yelled, clearly exasperated, but nodded at the rest of the men anyway. You assumed he was the leader. “Alright, Fake AH Crew, let’s roll out! Abandon the plan, take what you have and use Exit Strategy Five!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Ryan was picking you up, hoisting you over his shoulder and keeping a tight grip on you as you screamed, but you didn’t struggle. It would just be a waste of energy.

“What the  _ hell _ is going on?” You yelled, furious at the man you went and got a crush on. God, you felt so stupid. You  _ knew _ there was something fishy about him, you  _ knew _ it!

“Well, I saw you, didn’t want to hurt you or your little friend - because what type of person runs into a bank that’s clearly being robbed? What the hell were you thinking? - and I decided to save your fucking life!” Ryan yelled as he ran through the bank, presumably to a side entrance.

“You’re a fucking criminal!” You shrieked, hoping that the high pitch hurt his ears.

“Yeah, and you’re the person I care about, so you’re under my protection now.” Ryan retorted, only giving you more questions than the answers you were hoping for.

“Well, where are you taking me?”

You heard Ryan let out a breath of relief as you finally stopped completely protesting and yelling, and he set you down once the two of you reached an alley that held a motorcycle.

“We’re going to a safehouse. I’ll explain once we’re there, but for right now, you’re not safe unless you’re with me or my crew. I won’t stop you if you try to run away right now, but I can’t protect you if you do.” You could feel Ryan’s intense gaze on you as he got on the bike and held his hand out to you. “So, do you trust me?”

You thought back to the man you had met for all of ten minutes before in your parking lot. How sweet and kind he was, and how he went out of his way to ensure he wasn’t making you uncomfortable. You thought about how he called off a heist because he didn’t want you or Jaune hurt.

“Yes. I do.” 

“Then climb on.” 

You had the feeling that your life just flipped completely upside down, but, if you were being completely honest with yourself, it felt like it could be for the better. You were ready for it. 


	2. Addlepated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Addlepated
> 
> Adjective 
> 
> ad·dle·pat·ed \ˈa-dəl-ˌpā-təd\
> 
> being mixed up : confused
> 
> Yep. That just about sums you up.

“You’re the fucking _Vagabond?!?!?”_

You usually weren’t the shrieking damsel in distress. It wasn’t your style. You were a strong, brave, smart, headstrong woman. However, you, like most sane people, had a kryptonite for fucking psycho murderers. You had seen the news enough times to know who the Vagabond was - the most feared member of the Fake AH Crew, a gang that everybody and their mothers knew about. 

Ryan had told you he was a fucking freelancer. He said he tested security systems of paying companies. That was a big enough loophole of a lie to make any lawyer’s head spin. As it was, you could barely stomach it. 

“Does it matter?” Ryan seemed annoyed. You didn’t know why. Asshole had _no_ right to be, when _you_ were the one he kidnapped, _you_ were the one he lied to, _you_ were the one who was led to believe that he was just the cute boy across the hall who helped you find your cat. Oh my god, you were going to bake him cookies. You _flirted with him._

“Of fucking course it matters!” You yelled, pacing the unnecessarily lavish penthouse he had kidnapped you to. Of course, at the time, you didn’t think it was kidnapping, because you were a fucking idiot. You had to hear the codename through his goddamn ear piece while you were holding onto him during the motorcycle ride out of the main city and then back into their very conspicuous ‘secret’ hide out.

“Why? I saved your life!” Were it not for the fact that Ryan was a fucking murderer, you would be ready to punch him right in the nose.

“You’re missing the point! You’re the reason my life was in danger in the first place!” You shouted.

“She’s feisty. I like her.” The British one, who you pieced together was the Golden Boy himself Gavin Free, said from the couch to the rest of the crew, who was trying their best to ignore the shouting match next to them. You would have felt thankful for that fact, but you were going to just be thankful that they weren’t killing you instead. You were kind of pushing your luck by yelling at these people, at Ryan especially, but fuck it, you were pissed the hell off. 

“Shut the fuck up, Gavin!” Every single person in the room, sans you, said, making the stupid asshole pout. You couldn’t help it - you giggled a little bit. What? It was funny. For a second, you were forgetting your situation and you were laughing at a group of tight knit friends pick on one member simultaneously. 

“Look…” Ryan began quietly, holding his hands up defensively, catching your attention again. It was easy to remember that this was Ryan now that you weren’t screaming at him. Yes, you only met him briefly, but you felt like you had a connection to him. Not one of those stupidass ‘love-at-first-sight’ connections, but one where you felt like the camaraderie between the two of you was effortless. 

“I’m sorry, alright? I swear, I didn’t know you were going to be there. I knew the bank we were hitting was by your work, but the _only_ reason I allowed the heist to go on was because I knew for a fact you weren’t supposed to be in.” Ryan implored, making you frown. It still didn’t change all that much. Even if he did something like that when he thought you wouldn’t be there to get hurt, he was still robbing a bank, and was still a criminal. That wasn’t okay. 

“That’s true.” The tattooed one, the leader, drawled, as he sipped at a bottle of something or other. “Though, he wouldn’t tell us why he was so insistent on getting more intel by himself before we set a date and a time.” 

“Whether you meant to do it while I was there or not, you’re still a criminal.” You said, exhaustion creeping into your tone. How many times would you have to say it? “And that bothers the shit out of me.” 

Ryan looked like you had just personally kicked his dog in the ribs a few times, and you hated that you felt guilty about it. 

“We’re not all bad.” The woman in the room said softly, but still was somehow able to capture the rapt attention of everyone in the room. She held herself like the tired mom of all of the children in the room. You thought you had heard Ryan call her Jack. “In fact, if it wasn’t for the police that are keeping a tight barricade around the town to look for us, we would have taken you home safe and sound by now, and left you be.”

“Plus, the police are probably gonna see you as an accomplice because there are several eye witnesses that can place you as the reason we pulled out early.” The curly haired guy who looked more thirteen than like an actual adult explained. 

“Exactly.” Jack nodded. You bit your lip. You hadn’t quite thought about it that way. But, the point still stood. How were you supposed to trust any of these people, even if they were supposedly better than the rest? 

“I just…” You sighed, nibbling at your lower lip nervously. “I just need to be alone right now.”

If Ryan didn’t look wounded before, he sure did now, but he nodded anyway. “You can go to my-”

“Come on, sweetheart.” Jack said quietly, cutting off what Ryan had to say when she saw you tense. “I know a place.” 

You hesitantly followed her, working hard to not look over at Ryan. Once the two of you were out of earshot from the rest of the crew, heading down the hall, you rubbed awkwardly at the back of your neck. “Look, I’m really sorry…” 

“You don’t have anything to apologize for.” Jack told you, turning her head to flash you a warm, pleasant, motherly smile. It made you feel a bit relieved, but not completely. “You have every right to be cautious. This is a tricky situation you’re in here.” 

You nodded, stepping into the elevator Jack had called for and looking at her yet again. You were wary to say that you trusted this woman, but she reminded you of your mom, and god, you missed your mom. You missed her so much it hurt. You wished so badly that you could call her.

“Any advice?” You asked timidly, making Jack hum in consideration as the elevator stopped and she led you to the roof of the building, which, to your immense surprise, was pretty much a gigantic garden. Your jaw was agape and your eyes were wide as you took in the way the setting sun’s rays made the flowers glow. It was so beautiful up here.

“Trust your heart.” Jack said finally, looking out at the sky wistfully. She seemed a lot older than she looked to you in that moment. It hadn’t occurred to you before that criminals like the Fake AH Crew had actual lives and experiences and things like that. It was almost like they existed to you, and all other outsiders, as chaotic, unfeeling monsters, but Jack and Ryan at the very least were proof that that wasn’t true. “If you can’t trust any of us, trust yourself. Ask yourself why you trusted Ryan in the first place, and remind yourself that he’s more than his job. We all are.”

You looked down, ashamed of yourself. Jack was right. Yes, they were killers and thieves, and yes, they needed to pay for what they did, but… God, there shouldn’t even be a ‘but’ there. What the hell was wrong with you? 

That was a rhetorical question. You knew what was making you think this way. A set of baby blue eyes, a deep voice, and a bright smile. You sighed, rubbing your arm. “I’ll… I’ll try.”

“That’s all we can ask for.” Jack smiled over at you, looking like a proud, but tired, mom. God, you missed your mother. “I’ll leave you alone for a bit, have someone come get you when dinner’s ready. We can talk after we eat about when it’s safe for you to go home and what we can do to keep you safe.” 

You nodded, your eyes catching on a pretty pink rose. “Okay. Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome.” And with that, Jack headed back into the elevator and left you in peace, as promised. You sat down on the ground, too exhausted both mentally and physically to sit down at one of many actual chairs lying around. Plus, it sort of fit your mood right now. You reminded yourself of the conflicted protagonist of some cheesy books you read and sold on a daily basis. 

Speaking of your bookstore… You hoped Jaune was okay. You hoped his parents were okay. You bit your lip, looking down at your feet. The last the kid saw of you was being taken away by the very people threatening the lives of everybody in that bank. How was he supposed to know the trigger-happy man in the mask with the huge gun and loose morals was the man you had been fawning over? 

You were still having a hard time with that. You simply couldn’t place Ryan; sweet, helpful, funny, dorky Ryan as the Vagabond. 

_No._

You shook your head, clearing your thoughts, even repeating the word out loud, alone in a bunch of flowers on top of a roof. “No.” 

You couldn’t stay up here forever, as beautiful as it might be. The sun was starting to sink beneath the cityscape, and it was going to get cold. You had to, at the very least, think about how to handle the whole Ryan-Vagabond situation. What would all of those girls in the cheesy romance novels you’d never admit you completely devoured do? They’d probably not care, because it was True Love. 

But that was bullshit. You were attracted to Ryan, yes, but you weren’t in love with him. There was potential there, you’d admit, but nothing solid. So, taking advice from romance novels was ruled out. Okay, what about action books? The protagonist would just beat Ryan up and demand he let her go back home. You shook your head. Nope, bad idea. Ryan himself probably wouldn’t try to hurt you back, but you had the feeling his crew wouldn’t hesitate. 

So maybe taking advice from books was a bad idea. You closed your eyes before looking up at the sky. You were just able to see a few stars if you looked high enough. What would mom and dad say? 

_Love is complicated._

But I’m not in love with him, dad. 

_You’d better not be._

You smiled as you pictured your mom slapping your dad’s shoulder. She would pull you into a hug, and your dad would join in, and you’d feel warm and happy knowing that they would be there for you no matter what. 

But they weren’t now. You wiped your eyes, getting rid of the stubborn tears that didn’t want to leave. So maybe asking your dead parents wasn’t a good idea either. That probably meant it was time for some introspection - and yes, you did realize that was the advice Jack had given you earlier. 

What did _you_ think was best? 

Well. Ryan didn’t hurt you when you were all alone in the complex, and he could have easily. Though, you supposed, he shouldn’t get an award for not doing something awful for you. But, on the other hand, if he really was the man the news portrayed him to be, then he would have. The Vagabond killed without mercy, and yet he helped you when he could have easily hurt you.

Not to mention the fact that he stopped robbing a bank just to ensure you’d be okay. And, judging by the annoyed faces all around by the rest of the crew, you figured it’d be safe to assume that the robbery was going reasonably well and that they lost out on a lot of money because Ryan wanted to make sure you were safe. 

You bit your lip. You were thinking too much. Maybe you should just - 

“Hey.” A voice interrupted your thoughts. You looked up, seeing a short man with bright green hair. “I’m Jeremy. They sent me to tell you dinner was ready. Need help up?”

It took you a second, but slowly you nodded and accepted his proffered hand. “Thanks.” 

“No problem.” Jeremy smiled. He looked like the really friendly sort of guy. 

_It was a shame he’s a -_

Nope. You refused to think about all of that nonsense. It was dinner time. You wanted to eat and get to know these people before you kept on making such harsh judgments on their character. 

“Listen, I know it’s a tough situation you’re in.” Jeremy began as you two went into the elevator. “I don’t know what the hell I’d do if I were you - but I’m glad you’re trusting us. Well, trusting us enough to not try to call the cops or anything. Not that we couldn’t handle the cops showing up, but still. Even if the others don’t say it, I appreciate it.” 

You hadn’t even realized your cell phone was still in your pocket. You felt bad for taking Jeremy’s praise for not doing something you hadn’t even thought of doing, but you didn’t say anything about it. 

“What’s for dinner?” 

Jeremy’s eyes almost seemed to light up completely. “Geoff is a fucking awesome cook. He made some steak.”

“It’s been forever since I’ve had some steak.” You sighed wistfully. For a second, you could pretend like you were having a casual conversation with someone who could be a friend one day. 

“Aw, dude. You’re gonna love it.” Jeremy grinned as the two of you walked to the dining room together. 

The scene you and Jeremy walked into shocked you. You supposed, at this point, it shouldn’t, but god damn, it did.   
You saw the curly haired one smooshing the cheeks of a gorgeous blonde woman, sitting next to each other at the table, the Golden Boy pouring some alcohol into a fancy golden cup, Jack serving the food for everybody, the tattooed leader also pouring alcohol, and Ryan setting a few plates down.   
It all looked so… domestic. Like they were one big family. You almost felt like you were intruding on something private, but Jeremy put a hand on your shoulder and urged you forward. When Ryan looked up from carefully setting a few plates down, he noticed you and headed towards you, his mouth open and his eyes wide. 

You simply held a hand up, silencing him and stopping him. “We’ll talk after dinner, Ryan. I promise. We’ll eat and then we can talk in private.” 

Ryan shut his mouth and offered you a warm smile.

“Dinner’s served!” Jack called, and sure enough, every single space at the table had copious amounts of food in front. You noticed real quick that neither you, Ryan, nor Jack had sat down yet, meaning there was a space in between Jeremy and Gavin you could sit in, or… the two empty spaces, where you could sit with Ryan. You looked from to table to Ryan, your mouth open as if to ask him a question, but you couldn’t think of anything to say. He simply raised an eyebrow (damn him and his damn eyebrows) and sat down in the space where it was empty for either you or Jack to sit. 

You caught Jack’s eye for a very brief moment before the woman was hurrying to the seat in between Gavin and Jeremy. You had a feeling she knew exactly what she was doing, and really, if you ignored the fact that Ryan was who he was, like you told yourself you were going to, you were pretty glad she did that. The craziness of the day aside, you still thought Ryan was cute and he was still the kind stranger who helped you find your cat. You had admitted it to yourself earlier on the roof that you were attracted to him, and you didn’t change your mind. 

So, you sat down next to Ryan and smiled over at him. He looked at you for a few seconds, searching your eyes for something, and apparently finding what he needed to see, because he smiled right back at you. It wasn’t the goofy smile he had given you back in the parking lot. It was something softer, more tentative. You wondered if that was because you had spent a good hour yelling at him earlier. That would probably make anyone hesitant towards anyone. 

“So, Y/N.” Jack’s gentle voice asked from across the table, making everybody look at Jack as they dug into their food. “We don’t really know much about you other than your name. What do you do for work?”

You tried to focus on Jack as inquisitive eyes flew over to you now. You saw, though, out of the corner of your eyes, Ryan tensing up a bit. 

“We don’t need to make this into an interrogation, guys.” Ryan said firmly, but you shook your head and placed a gentle hand on Ryan’s forearm and squeezed once before letting go.

“No, it’s alright, I don’t mind.” Though, you did appreciate it. You had the feeling these people could be quite the handful. “I own a bookstore. Um, the one right across the street from the bank.” 

Thankfully, everybody kept their mouths shut about the bank and what happened today. That could have just been because the curly haired man asked, with a mouthful of food, “How’d you meet Rye-Bread?”

The woman next to him slapped his shoulder, but he didn’t at all look repentant. You shifted in your seat, slightly uncomfortable now. It wasn’t that you were uncomfortable talking about Ryan, it was more that you weren’t sure if he wanted his crew to know that he acted like a total dork when he helped you find your cat or not.

“My cat was hiding in the parking lot and Ryan saw me struggling and decided to help.” You finally settled on. The Golden Boy, however, wasn’t satisfied by your answer. 

“Nah, there’s got to be more to it than that. Did he flirt with you? I bet he damn flirted with you. I bet ten quid he flirted badly.” You hadn’t wanted to speak up because Gavin was right and you didn’t want somebody to owe him ten quid (though you had no idea what that was in USD). 

“There’s no proof of that.” Ryan interjected, his cheeks turning just the slightest bit pink. You doubted any of the others could tell, but you were sitting close enough to see. It was adorable, just like it was in the parking lot. 

“There is. Someone owes Gavin ten quid.” You chimed in, making the entire crew burst out into loud laughter, and Ryan slowly turn his head to raise a silent eyebrow at you. You looked back up at him defiantly, smirking ever so slightly. 

“I am _excellent_ at flirting.” Ryan stated, but the damage had been done. Nobody was going to believe him. You almost felt bad, but it was really fucking funny, so you didn’t. 

Instead, you simply patted his arm a few times, as if you were placating him, but deep down, you agreed. He was pretty damn good at flirting - he had you hook, line and sinker pretty much immediately. 

“I like her.” The woman sitting next to the curly hair laughed, and separately, but speaking all at once, the rest of the crew agreed. You felt you heart warm at their approval and easy acceptance of you. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad staying with them for a few days. Maybe, it’d actually be really nice.


End file.
